Tape drives are widely used for storing information in digital form. These tape drives commonly use a storage tape having a thin film of magnetic material which receives the information. Typically, the storage tape is moved between a pair of spaced apart reels, past a data transducer to record or read back information from the storage tape.
In one type of tape drive system, one of the reels is part of the tape drive, while the other reel is part of a removable cartridge. For this type of tape drive system, the reel which is a part of the tape drive is commonly referred to as a take-up reel, while the reel which is a part of the cartridge is commonly referred to as a cartridge reel. With this system, upon insertion of the cartridge into the tape drive, it is necessary to couple the storage tape on the cartridge reel to the take-up reel of the tape drive. Subsequently, the storage tape must be uncoupled from the take-up reel, prior to removing the cartridge from the tape drive system.
Typically, a cartridge leader on the storage tape is automatically coupled to a drive leader which is connected to the take-up reel during insertion of the cartridge into the tape drive. The procedure of connecting the drive leader with the cartridge leader is commonly referred to as "buckling" or "coupling". Subsequently, during ejection of the cartridge, the cartridge leader is unbuckled from the drive leader.
FIG. 1A illustrates a prior art cartridge leader 10P coupled to a prior art drive leader 12P. In this prior art embodiment, the cartridge leader 10P includes a hoop 14P and a notch 16P, while the drive leader 12P includes a mushroom shaped tab 18P having a nose 20P and a neck 22P. The hoop 14P is dimensioned to enable the nose 20P and neck 22P of the drive leader 12P to pass therethrough. The notch 16P is dimensioned to receive the neck 22P, but prevent the nose 20P from passing therethrough.
FIG. 1B illustrates a prior art buckler 24P which automatically couples the prior art cartridge leader 10P of a cartridge 26P to the prior art drive leader 12P. With this system, the prior art buckler 24P has a single, finger type hook 28P which fits into a drive leader aperture 30P (illustrated in FIG. 1A) in the drive leader 12P. The buckler 24P selectively rotates to couple and uncouple the drive leader 12P to the cartridge leader 10P. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,662,049 and 4,720,913 provide a tailed discussion of this type of tape buckling arrangement.
Unfortunately, this type of tape buckling arrangement is not completely satisfactory. More specifically, the drive leader 12P can become unbuckled from the cartridge leader 10P before the cartridge leader 10P has been pulled nto the take-up reel. This is commonly referred to as "leader runaway". During leader runaway, the drive leader 12P can retract onto the take-up reel and the cartridge leader 10P can retract into the cartridge 26P.
One cause of leader runaway is a loss of tension in leaders 10P, 12P before the cartridge leader 10P is pulled onto the take-up reel. During a loss of tension, the nose 20P can slip up into the hoop 14P and become disengaged from the notch 16P. Another cause of leader runaway is excessive use of the tape drive. More specifically, the prior art leaders 10P, 12P are each made of plastic. After excessive use, edges 32P of the nose 20P of the tab 18P begin to weaken. During usage, the weakened edges 32P can deflect and allow the tab 18P to pass through the notch 16P.
Another type of buckling arrangement utilizes a robotic arm to grab a block secured to the end of the storage tape. Subsequently, the robotic arm moves the block along the tape path and inserts the block into a slot in the take-up reel of the disk drive. Unfortunately, this type of buckling arrangement is relatively large, complicated and expensive to manufacture.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an easy and accurate way to reliably couple and de-couple a storage tape of a cartridge to a take-up reel of a tape drive. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved buckler and buckle for a tape drive. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a tape drive which is compatible with prior art cartridges. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a tape drive system having a buckler and buckle which are relatively easy and cost efficient to manufacture and utilize.